The eighth Rome Film Festival closed last night and unveiled its winners naming Scarlett Johansson Best Actress for Spike Jonze’s Her, in which Johansson voices a Siri-like Operating System but doesn’t appear onscreen. That’s a nice early accolade for Warner Bros., which releases the romance in limited release December 18 before expanding in January. And it’s the first step in what Deadline’s Pete Hammond predicted could be a groundbreaking awards season coup for Johansson’s voice-over performance in the pic. Also nabbing top honors out of Rome were Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who won Best Director for Sebunsu kodo (Seventh Code), and Dallas Buyers Club, which landed Matthew McConaughey the Best Actor prize and also won the Audience Award. Scott Cooper’s Out of the Furnacewas named best first or second feature. Scroll down for full winners:

10 Comments

Johansson winning feels more like a stunt rather than a genuine win. Trying to build steam for an improbable Oscar run. I just don’t see it happening.

C • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

Except that she has been unanimously praised by all critics so whether it was voiceover or not – it’s obviously deserved.

Kelly • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

“C”- We’re not saying her performance isn’t deserving of praise. It’s a Best VOCAL Performance by an actress, maybe, if you’re talking Vocal performance awards. I’m not knocking her voice performance, but it’s a VOICE performance and should be awarded for that.

I agree with Dean, seems gimmicky and an attention ploy. ScarJo brings attention, no doubt.

IMHO, Best Actress in a film should be awarded for people who appear onscreen.

Mr. Majestyk • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

As someone who works with voice-over talent, I have the greatest respect for acting with your voice, whether it’s in a cartoon, on the radio, or in a Spike Jonze movie. But there’s a small part of me that finds it odd that a purely audio performance would compete against against fully on-screen actors. That may not be fair, but it’s just weird to consider. That’s probably why the major awards still treat voice acting as a separate category.

In an age of pervasive CGI, mo-cap performance, and scripts inspired by a world full of Siri and On-Star, these are confusing times.

Jean Dujardin • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

If Jean Dujardin can win a best actor Oscar for a non-verbal performance, why not?

Ret • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

You can see him. You see the emotion he’s conveying. The grief. The joy. The anger. ScarJo is literally phoning her performance in. We’re not seeing the physicality. There’s a difference.

Sigal • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

What kind of argument is this? With a voice performance you can HEAR the emotion she is conveying. Grief, joy, anger etc.
I fully agree with Jean Dujardin, there is an obvious bias against voice work. Why has a non-verbal performance won so many awards whereas the voice work of Johansson or all Andy Serkis has done is considered less worthy?

Ret • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

But you can’t SEE the emotion. THAT’S what drives a performance home, to be able to say “yeah, I can totally buy they were feeling what the character was feeling”. Since Johansson is on a phone, we can’t see what she’s feeling, so she could have a big ol grin on her face. Therefore, I can’t buy into her performance.

Besides, the only reason she’s getting so much attention is because she’s so A-List. A voice actress like Yeardley Smith or Tara Strong wouldn’t have even received consideration. And aside from the whole voice thing, there’s the category itself. Lupita Nyong’o, Oprah Winfrey and June Squibb are practically locks. That’s 3/5 right there, leaving a very slim margin. And with Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts, Margo Martindale, Octavia Spencer and a whole bunch of actresses that have the PHYSICAL acting over Johansson, there’s just no way.

Andy Serkis got his attention because he went the whole nine yards. He was on set, wearing tech and acting out the scene with the actors, so he’s there. They’re taking the emotions Gollum is feeling from Serkis’s acting. Johansson just gave her voice 3 months before filming finished. She wasn’t on set, not acting alongside the actors.

It’s adorable this is even receiving the attention it did. Johansson only won because she makes the Film Fest look good. I mean, Matthew McConaughey won as well. There’s nothing but star power motive behind their wins.

Frieda • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

Oh wow, this reeks of gimmickry. Must have been incentive for getting her to attend that film festival.

Lou • on Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am

You hit the nail on the head. She didn’t even attend the press junket.